The process of migrating data and applications from one machine or server to another is quite cumbersome. Migration of a system typically involves moving information between a variety of different locations, including migrating from physical to virtual, physical to physical, physical to cloud, one location to another, etc. Migration requires capturing all of the information about the machine and its applications, including layouts, drive letters, application information, data, and more, and transporting this captured information to another system.
System backup has similar issues, in that it requires the ability to capture all of the information about a server, its applications and its data. Backup, however, does not usually require transportation to another system. Whether or not transportation of the data is required, capturing all of this information is not a trivial thing.
At present, the information capture process for migration and/or system backup is performed manually or with minimal automation, wherein a user provides and/or approves a list of elements, such as data and applications, to be captured, stored and transported. There is a need simplify the information capturing process, along with the ability to move a machine and its applications with the data to another location (virtual, cloud, physical). In addition, a simplified process can enable backup and retrieval of a subset of data and/or files, in the situation in which the entire server does not need to be recreated.